Europe biz: Stock markets quiet for Christmas break

London and Paris quiet on Christmas Eve

There was little movement in trading on the London and Paris stock markets on Tuesday as the Christmas break began. Frankfurt is already shut for the festive period.

London's benchmark FTSE 100 index of major blue-chip firms was up just two points to 7,625 points by 11:15 GMT, compared with Monday's closing level.

In the eurozone, the Paris CAC 40 was also just over two points higher to stand at 6,032 points.

Both stock markets are ending the year on a high.

London and Paris stock markets close early on Tuesday, and then remain closed until Friday.

US National Security Adviser warns UK about Huawei 5G role

The issue has also caused controversy in Germany (Credit: Associated Press)

US National Security Adviser, Robert O'Brien, has renewed warnings to the UK about allowing China's Huawei a role in its 5G telecommunications networks, saying that it would pose a risk to UK's secret intelligence services, according to the Financial Times.

O'Brien told the newspaper in an interview: "It is somewhat shocking to us that folks in the UK would look at Huawei as some sort of a commercial decision. 5G is a national security decision.”

The US has been putting pressure on various nations not to grant Huawei access to 5G networks and said that the company's equipment could be used by Beijing for spying, which the Chinese firm has denied several times.

O'Brien also said that while the "German elites" were happy to do a deal with Huawei "German citizens are starting to revolt," on the issue.

Portugal sticks to deficit forecast after nine-month surplus

Portugal's budget surplus widened to 1 percent of gross domestic product in the first nine months of 2019 from 0.4 percent a year earlier, according the National Statistics Institute. The government said it still anticipated a small full-year deficit.

Finance Minister, Mario Centeno said the nine-month surplus was a reflection of solid revenue growth in an expanding economy. He also cautioned that "the budget execution throughout the year is not linear" with various payments concentrated in the last quarter.

Referring to a 0.1 percent deficit estimated by the government earlier, Centeno said "We reiterate the projection we've made."

The deficit for the whole of 2018 was 0.4%, the lowest in more than four decades and a sharp improvement in the country's financial position from its 2011-14 debt crisis.

Next year, the Socialist government is looking to post Portugal's first full-year budget surplus since democracy returned in 1974, of 0.2 percent, with economic growth remaining steady at 1.9 percent.

Bank of Italy chief defends regulator's involvement in Bari bank crisis

Critics are saying the deal had contributed to Popolare de Bari's problems by increasing its portfolio of bad loans. (Credit: Associated Press)

The head of Italy's central bank dismissed criticism of its role in supervising struggling lender Banca Popolare di Bari and said it was ready to account for its actions, in an interview published on Monday.

Prosecutors in the southern Italian city of Bari are looking into the former cooperative bank's chairman for alleged corruption in relation to the central bank's supervisory activity.

The Bank of Italy put Banca Popolare di Bari, the dominant lender in the south of the country, under special administration this month. Rome has agreed measures worth up to $997 million to support the unlisted bank.

Source(s): AFP and Reuters